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Southern moves just down the road to take the helm of tennis program

September 11th, 2017

NORTH NEWTON, KAN. – Kent Allshouse, Bethel College athletic director, has announced the appointment of Richard Southern as head men’s and women’s tennis coach, to begin Aug. 8.

A native of Andrews, Texas, Southern was named tennis coach at Central Christian College, McPherson, this past April, after serving as an assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach and recruiting coordinator at Southwestern College, Winfield, since 2013.

While at Southwestern, Southern worked with two women’s teams that qualified for Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season play, with one of those teams finishing in second place.

In 2015, Southern was the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Region IV Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Southern is a 2012 graduate of University of the Southwest, Hobbs, New Mexico, with a B.A. in business administration. He was a four-year letter winner, a Top-6 player and men’s tennis team captain for two years while at University of the Southwest. He also has an MBA from Southwestern College.

"I couldn’t be more excited to step back into the KCAC," Southern said. "The tennis program at Bethel College has experienced a lot of success over the past decade including six straight women’s conference championships [2008-13].

"I look forward to helping Bethel compete for KCAC championships again," he continued. "I would like to thank Kent Allshouse for the opportunity I have been provided."

"To take over a program that has such a tradition of success requires a special passion, energy and familiarity with the school and conference," Allshouse said. "Richard Southern is a coach who clearly possesses those qualities and reestablish Bethel tennis as the premier program in the KCAC."

Bethel College is the only private, liberal arts college in Kansas listed in the 2015–16 Forbes.com analysis of top colleges and universities in the United States, and is the highest-ranked Kansas college in the Washington Monthly annual college guide for 2015–16. The four-year liberal arts college is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. For more information, see www.bethelks.edu.

In sports, Bethel competes within the 12-school Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. For more information, see www.bethelthreshers.com.

Bethel College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, age, gender, sexual orientation, parental or marital status, gender identity, gender expression, medical or genetic information, ethnic or national origins, citizenship status, veteran or military status or disability. E-mail questions to TitleIXCoordinator@bethelks.edu.

About Bethel

As the first Mennonite college founded in North America, Bethel College celebrates a tradition of progressive Christian liberal arts education, diversity within community, and lifelong learning.